Eurozone inflation to fall into negative territory

The eurozone annual inflation is expected to be -0.1% in September 2015, down from 0.1% in August 2015, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, food, alcohol & tobacco is expected to have the highest annual rate in September (1.4%, compared with 1.3% August), followed by services (1.3%, compared with 1.2% in August), non-energy industrial goods (0.3%, compared with 0.4% in August) and energy (-8.9%, compared with ‑7.2% in August), Eurostat highlighted.

At the same time, the eurozone’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 11% in August 2015, stable compared to July 2015, and down year-on-year.

Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates in August 2015 were recorded in Germany (4.5%), the Czech Republic (5.0%) and Malta (5.1%), and the highest in Greece (25.2% in June 2015) and Spain (22.2%).

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate in August 2015 fell in twenty-three member states, increased in four and remained stable in Romania.

The largest decreases were registered in Estonia (8.0% to 5.7% between July 2014 and July 2015), Slovakia (from 13.2% to 11.1%), Spain (24.2% to 22.2%), Bulgaria (11.4% to 9.7%), Ireland (11.1% to 9.5%) and Poland (8.7% to 7.2%). The increases were registered in Austria (5.6% to 5.7%), Belgium (8.6% to 8.8%), France (10.4% to 10.8%) and Finland (8.8% to 9.7%).